The promise of the protocol
Recent efforts to document the real situation of women in Africa have produced some alarming statistics, writes Roselynn Musa, who proceeds to outline the provisions of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa that offer some hope for women on the continent.
Equality is the cornerstone of every democratic society which aspires to social justice and human rights. In virtually all societies and spheres of activity women are subject to inequalities in law and in practice. In Africa, while the causes, consequences and manifestations may vary from sub-region to sub-region, country-to-country, and even province-to-province, discrimination against women is widespread. The situation is both caused and exacerbated by the existence of discrimination in the family, community and workplace and perpetuated by the survival of stereotypes, cultural and religious practices and beliefs detrimental to women.
Recent efforts to document the real situation of women in Africa have produced some alarming statistics on the economic and social gaps between men and women:
- Out of 1.9 million victims of conflict in Sub- Saharan Africa in the 1990s 63% were women and children
- In the Republic of Congo 40,000 women have experienced some form of sexual violence since 1998
- More than half of Africa’s 6 million refugees and 17 million internally displaced people are women
- Between 1990-2005 women occupied 14.2% of parliamentary seats in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 8.5% in Northern Africa
- Literacy rates in Sub- Saharan Africa for young males is 77% as against 68% for women
- The number of women in wage earning employment between 1990- 2003 is 35.8 in Sub-Saharan Africa and 21,5 in Northern Africa, yet women are said to constitute about 70% of the world’s population
- UNAID’s statistics show that in 2003 out of the 23 million adults with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, 57% were women
The United Nations (UN), since its formation in 1945 has been at the forefront of advocacy for equal rights and the enjoyment of rights and freedoms, hence the entrenchment of the principle of equality and non- discrimination in its international and universal human rights instruments. Equality of the rights of women is a basic principle of the United Nations. [1] The International Bill of Human Rights [2] strengthens and extends the emphasis on the equal rights of women. One of the most significant developments in the field of human rights was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 1948. Based on the equal right of every human being, the declaration proclaims the entitlement of everyone to enjoy human rights and fundamental freedom. [3]
Despite these Provisions women in Africa and elsewhere in the world continue to suffer blatant discrimination in the political, social, economic and cultural spheres. Consequently, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a landmark convention and in fact a global action towards redressing the existing inequalities, evolved with very systematic and far reaching consequences for women’s human rights globally. The convention sets out, in legally binding form, internationally accepted principles on the rights of women.
Why a separate Protocol for women?
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), also referred to as the Banjul Charter, was adopted in 1981 by the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union (AU). This document affirms both individual and collective rights and this distinguishes it from other international human rights treaties. It recognises African values and cultures and also emphasises both rights and duties. It provides for special protocols or agreements, if necessary, to supplement the provisions of the African Charter. [4] This serves as a legal basis for creating the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (The Protocol), which lays down a comprehensive set of rights to which all African women are entitled.
Why then was it necessary to have a separate instrument for African women? The ACHPR, just like other international human rights instruments before it, did not effectively redress the disadvantages and injustices experienced by African women by reason only of their being women, nor was it constructed to take into account women’s situations. Historically, human rights discourses started in the fields of political and civil rights - rights to life, freedom of association, etc. In this regard, the fundamental significance placed on human rights was directed towards the public rather than the private realm. Since men have largely dominated the public domain, this meant two things: that human rights came to be defined by men; and that these rights protected mostly men.
Substantive provisions of the Protocol
Article 2: Elimination of discrimination against women
In many African communities women are denied their basic legal rights, either implicitly or explicitly, including the right to participate fully in politics and the right to own property. Such instances of entrenched discrimination can easily be identified as discrimination. At the same time, not every differentiation will constitute discrimination.
In most African societies, men have used culture and tradition to justify discrimination against women. Male dominated ideologies in Africa have tended to use culture to justify oppressive gender relations. African governments could use the standards of the Protocol to remove all negative stereotyped cultures that discriminate against women and hinder their full advancement.
It is not enough to merely insert anti-discrimination clauses into the legislation. The Protocol also requires State parties to protect women’s rights effectively and provide women with opportunities for recourse and protection against discrimination. They should incorporate sanctions into legislation that deters discrimination against women. States party to the Protocol must take steps to eliminate discrimination in both public and private spheres. It is not enough to strive for equality for women vis-à-vis public authorities; states must also work to secure non-discrimination even within the family.
Article 3: Right to dignity
Every human being has an inherent right to be treated with dignity. This provision makes it incumbent for states to strive to remove the social, cultural and traditional patterns, which perpetuate gender role stereotypes, and to create an overall framework in society that promotes the realisation of full rights for African women. The prevalence of gender- role stereotypes is seen most particularly in the traditional concept of African women’s role in the domestic sphere.
The family as an agent of socialisation assigns different statuses, values and roles to boys and girls. In many countries in Africa discrimination against women starts before birth with parental and social attitudes that promote a preference for sons over daughters. Children of both sexes should be accorded equal opportunities to grow and develop to their full potential as equal partners for sustainable development and peace.
Many African women are denied an education because their role is considered primarily as one of caring for the family. This article therefore seeks to reform social and cultural traditions and practices and creates a common civil system that upholds the dignity of women as equal partners with men in society.
Article 4: The Rights to Life, Integrity and Security of the Person
Despite the efforts of women’s human rights activists, the spate of both public and private violence against women in Africa has not abated. Women are subject to violence and to threats of violence in their daily lives, physically and psychologically. Violence deprives women of their ability to achieve full equality. It threatens their freedom, safety and autonomy. Many cases of violence against women go unreported, particularly when they take place in the home, because of fear or shame. The psychological, emotional and economic conditions of women often alter their perception of reality such that they see themselves as completely helpless and unable to make choices. In some cases the abused women do not even see themselves as victims.
Although governments across Africa are now more concerned with the issue than in the past, few have taken legal, constitutional steps to stop the practice. The Protocol enjoins state parties to 'enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex, whether the violence takes place in private or public'. Unless this is done African women will not be able to enjoy fully the rights guaranteed in the Protocol.
This article charges state parties to take appropriate and effective measures to address issues of peace education, punishment for perpetrators of violence against women, rehabilitation of victims of such violence, trafficking in women, unauthorised medical and scientific experiments on women, opposition to death penalties on pregnant or nursing women, and to provide adequate budgetary and other resources for the implementation and monitoring of action aimed at preventing and eradicating violence against women.
Article 5: Elimination of Harmful Practices
Some cultures in Africa perpetuate traditional practices that are harmful to the health of women and constitute a direct violation of their fundamental human rights. Examples of such practices include Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), maltreatment of widows, male child preference, domestic violence, early/ forced marriage etc. In this connection, the Protocol has provisions that aim to improve the image and role of African women by improving public awareness through formal and informal education and outreach programmes.
Articles 6 and 7: Marriage, separation, divorce and annulment of marriage
Women are discriminated against in marriage and family law, sometimes as wives and sometimes as daughters. In all categories of marriage in Africa (statutory, customary and religious) the husband is assumed to be the head of the family and the provider (and hence able to make decisions and receive benefits for the family). Wife battering (called ‘chastisement’) is accepted as a norm in some cultures and there is no minimum age for marriage. Furthermore, wives have lesser rights in choice of marriage partner, divorce or child custody and have lesser right to inheritance.
The Protocol provides that women and men should enjoy equal rights and be regarded as equal partners in marriage. Marriage will take place only with the full consent of both parties. Cases of forced and early marriage persist in Africa and the situation of the girl child remains a matter of concern. The Protocol also requires that marriages are registered in accordance with national laws in order to be legally recognised. In cases of separation, divorce or annulment, women and men should have the right to an equitable share of the joint property deriving from the marriage.
Article 8: Access to Justice and Equal Protection by the Law
Some forms of discrimination against women stem from the varying understandings and beliefs about what society or culture prescribes for women. Since most family issues never go to court for resolution, it is the often conservative and restrictive everyday beliefs of husbands, brothers, fathers, cousins, uncles and nephews, which govern women’s lives. In this regard the Protocol provides that women and men are equal before the law and shall have the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. States parties are to ensure effective women’s access to judicial and legal services, including legal aid, sensitise everyone to the rights of women and reform existing discriminatory laws and practices in order to promote and protect the rights of women.
Article 9: Right to Participation in the Political and Decision-Making Processes
Women’s equal rights to participate in decision-making are beyond a question of democracy and good governance; it is also a necessary condition for the effective recognition of women’s interests, without which the objectives of sustainable equality and development will never be achieved. Caution is needed, however, as the participation of women in government does not necessarily translate into pro-woman policies. The value of this aspect of the Protocol is therefore predicated not only on taking part in government, but in doing so in a way that is consistent with the specific needs of women.
Decision-making involvement is imperative to the Protocol, which states that women must be able to participate in government and politics. While women are prominent in grassroots organisations, they are left out of the vitally important decision-making at policy level, and so their specific concerns and needs are ignored.
Article 10: Right to peace
Women are rarely included in decision-making on conflict prevention, resolution and management, or even in peace-building initiatives. Women’s voices go unheard during formal peace negotiations, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, the creation of new constitutions, elections, reconstruction, rehabilitation, and the establishment of judicial systems. This occurs even though the violence perpetuated against women is exacerbated during times of conflict, and they make up the majority of all victims. Women and children are the most vulnerable and at the receiving end of most of the worst excesses and abuses in situations of conflicts.
The Protocol defends the right of women to a peaceful existence and the participation of women in the promotion and maintenance of peace. State parties are to take appropriate measures to ensure the increased participation of women in the peace process through the promotion of a peace culture; protection of refugees, asylum seekers, returnees, and displaced persons; and reduced military expenditure in favour of spending on social development.
Article 11: Protection of women in armed conflict
Conflict is a critical part of transformation and change, restructuring the social relationship between peoples and also within their own groups. Generalised and unnecessary suffering result when latent conflicts escalate into confrontation. Several African countries have been, and some still are, embroiled in war, civil strife and conflict caused by a combination of factors including massive violations of human rights and ethnic violence. These situations usually impact heavily on women and children, resulting in violence, involuntary displacement and flight from their country of origin. Violations of the fundamental rights of women and girls are widespread during times of armed conflict. These include torture, rape and murder and should not be condoned.
Towards this direction state parties are to respect the rules of international humanitarian law applicable in conflict situations and protect women affected by conflicts making sure that perpetrators are brought to justice before a competent criminal jurisdiction. State parties shall also ensure that no child, especially girls under eighteen years take part in hostilities.
Article 12: Education and Training
African women face a sombre scene filled with economic and socio-political problems which hinder their efforts at meeting basic needs. The lack of education for a considerable number of African women prevents society as a whole from facing these problems with vigour and determination. If the situation of women in Africa is to change for the better the quality of education must not only be improved, but women and girls should have easy access to education, while overcoming every hurdle that hinders their active participation in the educational process.
To this regard the Protocol guarantees an education for women and girls with the intention of breaking down social and cultural barriers, which have discouraged and even excluded women and girls from the benefits of regular educational programmes as well as promoting equal opportunities for them in all aspects of life.
Article 13: Economic and social welfare rights
Poverty in Africa manifests itself in various forms and has its origin in a lack of income, the unequal distribution of wealth and income, economic recession, drought, heavy debt burdens and unfavourable conditionalities tied to borrowing from international financial institutions, armed conflict, civil strife, etc. More than a third of the people of Africa are unable to meet their most basic needs. The heavy burden of poverty falls disproportionately on women, especially female-headed households. The feminisation of poverty is an ugly reality. Although generally speaking women constitute more than half of the population, they have limited access to and ownership of land and housing yet they provide the greater percentage of food supply.
Women in Africa need to be empowered to participate in economic structures and policy formulation in the production process itself. Women’s empowerment will enhance their capacity to realistically alter the direction of change for their own well-being and that of society as a whole. In this regard, the Protocol recommends promotion of equality of access to employment and equal remuneration for women and men, and ensures transparency in the recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women. It also combats and punishes sexual harassment in the workplace.
Article 14: Health and reproductive rights
Women’s health and reproductive rights are central to the realisation of their potential. Their ability to exercise control over their fertility is a crucial step in enabling them to make the necessary choices in other areas. Women’s, and particularly adolescent girls’, sexuality and fertility pose a high health risk. They contribute significantly to girls’ inability to attain high levels of education and unsafe abortions lead to maternal mortality and HIV/AIDS.
The subordinate position of women and adolescent girls, with younger women being the least empowered, and their lack of access to information, education and communication, health facilities, training, an independent income, property and legal rights, make them particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. They lack adequate knowledge about the disease and the measures that have been taken to prevent them from infection.
In this regard the Protocol provides women with the right to control their fertility, choose any method of contraception and to have family planning education, while state parties have, among other things, to protect the reproductive rights of women by authorising medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape and incest and where continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or foetus.
If states are to ensure the equality of women and men in access to health care services as is expected of them they would have to remove any legal or social barriers which may operate to prevent or discourage women from making full use of available health care services. Concrete steps therefore need to be taken to ensure access to healthcare services for all women, including those whose access may be impeded through poverty, illiteracy or physical isolation.
Article 15: Right to food security
The struggle against poverty, the economic empowerment of women and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods for women is a moral, political and economic obligation and the responsibility of national governments and the international community. Women and other people living in poverty represent an under-utilisation of productive potential. Women’s deprived rights to development should be recognised. This requires policies that are gender sensitive, including gender-based anti-poverty policies. Besides income poverty, other areas of deprivation for women include social discrimination, exclusion, desertion, physical disability, vulnerability and deprivation. There is also poverty associated with wars, famine, displacement and refugees, unbalanced trade relations and structural adjustment programmes (SAPs).
Some of the measures recommended by the Protocol to combat this are to provide women with access to clean drinking water, sources of domestic fuel, land and the means of producing nutritious food and also adequate systems of supply and storage to ensure food security. One point that is clear however is that unless states parties guarantee women financial independence, they will not have true equality with men because they will not be able to head their own households, own their own homes, or start their own businesses.
Article 16: Right to adequate housing
Despite the active role of African women in the management and creation of urban and rural environments, they are discriminated against in their access to adequate housing and control of land and property. In some countries, legislation, tradition and harmful religious practices prevent women from inheriting and having control over property and so deprive them of their rights to adequate housing. Considering the challenges faced by women in both rural and urban areas, governments should consider that households and household members move from one end of the continuum to the other and it is necessary to provide infrastructure and services along the continuum without putting undue emphasis on one at the expense of the other.
Compared to men, women are more burdened with the rural-urban linkages. They have to move between the extreme ends of the continuum trying to make ends meet for their households. Supporting women’s efforts under the circumstances requires making their daily routine activities such as ensuring availability of water, energy and food easier, be it in the rural, or urban areas. This assurance makes it possible not only to engage in long term economic planning but also avails time for critical thinking and engagement in the socio- economic and political life of their communities. These measures are required if the states are to keep the promise of the Protocol to provide African women equal access to housing and to acceptable living conditions in a healthy environment.
Article 17: Right to a positive cultural context
African societies are products of historical evolution, enriched by diverse cultures. Individuals within those societies have their collective identities as members of families, communities, religious groups, etc. The delicate balance between the rights of the individual and society and the groups within society should be respected. Women, being among the most vulnerable and marginalised, need to be integrated in order to reconnect them with the community by making all the institutions of society more accessible to them. This article addresses discrimination against women in the private sphere, including discrimination in the area of family law.
In this regard, the Protocol provides that women will have the right to live in a positive cultural context and to participate at all levels in the determination of cultural policies. We should not be oblivious to the fact that this area of discrimination, based on long- standing cultural and religious practice is one of the most difficult areas to penetrate and one of the most resistant to change. Yet the drafters of Protocol realised that change in this area is essential in order for African women to attain full equality.
Article 18: Right to a healthy and sustainable environment
Poverty is a major cause and consequence of environmental degradation and is compounded by scarcity, depletion and the mismanagement of resources. Environmental degradation has had, and continues to have, an adverse impact on the population as a whole. Women experience this impact particularly in the traditional divisions of labour. This has resulted in an increase in their workload of domestic chores. Often, women have no choice other than to exploit natural resources in order to survive even when they know about the importance of protecting the environment and its sustainability.
As the majority of the world’s poor, women play decisive roles in managing and preserving biodiversity, water, land and other natural resources, yet their centrality is often ignored or exploited. This means that a chance for better management of those resources is lost, along with opportunities for greater diversity, productivity for human sustenance and economic development. Moreover, while environmental degradation has severe consequences for all humans, it particularly affects women and children.
Towards this end, states shall ensure greater involvement of women in planning, management and preservation of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources at all levels.
Article 19 Right to sustainable development
Recently, African governments have slowly begun to see the political and socio-economic participation of women as a key factor and catalyst for the accelerated advancement of women and the society as a whole. In this respect, some African governments have established national machineries to be responsible for coordinating the gender perspective in overall national development activities. However, governments still have a lot to do to see that women fully enjoy their right to sustainable development.
For example, in many countries women still do not have the same property rights as men. Traditional property law often discriminates against women in that only male children are able to inherit the family land and husbands have automatic ownership over all of their wife’s property upon marriage. Similarly, legislation in a number of countries establishes that the administration of family property is to be undertaken by the male head of the family – thereby excluding women.
The Protocol enjoins governments to take tangible steps to ensure the participation of women at all levels of decision-making, implementation and evaluation of development policies and programmes, to promote their access to credit, training and skills development and also to ensure that the negative effects of globalisation are reduced to the minimum for women.
Articles 20: Widows’ rights
The need to address the plight of widows cannot be overemphasised. In many African cultures, widows have suffered from a regressive heritage that results in their being ostracised from their communities at worst or being discriminated against at best. It is not uncommon for a widow to be labelled 'a witch' who is responsible for the death of her husband. She is consequently dispossessed of all her family’s assets, denied property rights, and left to grapple alone with her liabilities.
The Protocol states that widows should not to be subjected to inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment, that they should automatically become the custodian of their children, unless this is contrary to the children's interests and welfare, and that they should have the right to marry the person of their choice. It also states that women and men shall have the right to inherit in equitable shares, their parent’s properties.
Article 21: Right to inheritance
In adjudicating on inheritance rights for women there is a wide gap in both law and practice. This is especially so where it allows for the application of customary law under which a marriage was enacted which varies from community to community. In most communities, a woman takes nothing with her upon dissolution of marriage. The fact remains that the legal system allowing application of customary law upon divorce puts women in very vulnerable situations because cultural norms are mostly discriminatory towards women. They therefore get a raw deal even when it comes to legal redress because the outcome will be based upon gender- biased cultural practices and the whims and caprices of gender- blind judges who are themselves products of a predominantly patriarchal culture.
The protocol senses the dire need for gender responsive policies to ensure equitable access to and ownership and control of (both movable and unmovable property) as a step towards achieving the goal of women’s empowerment. It will also be a critical step towards ensuring equitable distribution of resources, poverty alleviation and overall national development.
Article 22 Special protection for elderly women
While women can look forward to a longer life than men, they are expected to continue suffering from gender discrimination even in their old age. Widowhood is more prevalent among women because they live longer and usually marry men older than themselves. Women suffer from high rates of disability at older ages because of the lack of good health care, education and nutrition in earlier life.
The rights of elderly women are being violated without them getting any redress in many African countries. Older women are leaving their communities in fear of being killed, and, if not killed, rejected by their own families. It is not uncommon to find elderly women wandering in town and living as beggars with nobody to care for their sustenance.
It is relieving to know that the Protocol puts the plight of this category of women into perspective, recommending state protection for them and ensuring their right to freedom from violence including sexual abuse, discrimination based on age and the right to be treated with dignity.
Article 23: Special protection of women with disabilities
State parties are to take special measures to ensure the protection of women with disabilities and take specific measures to facilitate their access to employment, professional and vocational training as well as their participation in decision- making and also make sure they are free from violence and discrimination based on their disability.
Article 24: Protection of special women
These include women in detention, poor women and women heads of family. State parties are to ensure their protection from marginalisation and provide an environment suitable to their condition and their special physical, economic and social needs.
The African Court
The promises in the Protocol cannot be actualised merely by the enactment of gender- neutral laws alone. Measures have to be put in place to ensure that African women are able to enjoy the promise of the Protocol. In article 27 of the Protocol, The African Court is bestowed with the responsibility of interpretation of matters arising from the application or implementation of the Protocol. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is to take on the duties of adjudicating matters of the Protocol pending the establishment of the African Court. [5] The African Court was constituted in February 2006. However, it is sad to note that of the nine Judges appointed to the court only two are women.
Entry into force
The Protocol entered into force in November, 2006, thirty days after the deposit of the fifteenth Instrument of ratification.[6] Nineteen states have presently ratified the protocol, though a few states did so with reservations. The interdependence and indivisibility of all rights is a long-accepted and consistently re-affirmed principle. In practice this means that respect for one proviso cannot be separated from the enjoyment of another proviso. That means for example that genuine economic and social development requires political and educational development to participate in this process. In as much as states can make reservations to some articles before ratification, universality is a desirable principle that should guide African states in ratifying the Protocol. The fact that states could ratify with reservations is a situation of accepting the better of two evils, while none of them is desirable, the lesser evil can be tolerated. While historical, cultural and religious differences must be borne in mind, it is the duty of every state, regardless of its political economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights. I use this opportunity to call on states that have ratified with reservations to emulate the good example set by the Gambia and lift their reservations.
Conclusion
The concept of equality means much more than treating all persons in the same way. Experience has shown that equal treatment of persons in unequal situations will operate to perpetuate, rather than eradicate injustice. True equality can only emerge from efforts directed towards addressing and correcting these situational imbalances. Overall, therefore, despite regional and individual efforts made by the international community and local and international NGOs to improve the status of African women, only modest progress has been made and the Protocol seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel for African women. The Protocol promises to be an extremely useful framework for advancing the rights of women in Africa. Only time will tell if it will actually fulfil these promises or not. However, we must bear in mind that in the final analysis it is the responsibility of all of us, not just the government and its institutions, to ensure an Africa where women enjoy their full human rights on the basis of equality with men.
* Musa works with African Women’s Development and Communications Network, FEMNET, Nairobi, Kenya
References
A Simplified Version of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 2004, BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights, Lagos, Nigeria
Advancing Women’s Status: Gender, Society and Development, Women and Men Together, Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
African Union and SOAWR, Breathing Life into the African Union Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa, (unpublished)
African Union, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
African Union, Protocol to the Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
Arusa Mahin Karim, 1998, Human Rights Protection in the African Regional System, Pretoria, South Africa
Asma Abdel Halim et al, Claiming Our Place, Institute of Women, Law and Development, Washington, USA
Barbara K (2002), Gender and Debt, AFRODAD, Harare, Zinbabwe
Edward O. et al, (2000) The Cost of Globalisation, Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.international-alert.org
http://www.unifenpacific.org/gender_tradehtml
http://www.unorg/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/armed.htm
Margaret S. et al, African Women and Development (1995), Johannesburg, South Africa
Patricia A. Made et al, Beyond Beijing: Strategies Towards Women’s Equality, 1999, Harare Zimbabwe
The African Union Commission, (2004) The Road to Gender Equality in Africa: An Overview, Ethiopia
United Nations Convention on Discrimination Against Women, 2000, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Kampala, Uganda
United States Research for Social Development, 2005, Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World, Paris, France
Notes:
[1]United Nations Charter
[2] refers collectively to three instruments: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols
[3] Article 2
[4] Article 66, ACHPR
[5] Article 32, The Protocol
[6] Article 29, The Protocol