The relationship between peoples' rights and human rights in the context of the countries of Africa

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognizes the univer-sality of the human being in its Preamble. In its fìfth paragraph the Preamble states that «... the reality and respect of peoples' rights should necessarily guaran-tee human rights». This postulate seems to echo the idea contained in the Preamble
to the «Déclaration Universelle des Droits des Peuples» (Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples) to the effect that «... effective respect for human rights implies respect for peoples' rights».
While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was mainly concerned with the individual and mentioned "the people" only incidentally, various recent resolutions and recommendations adopted by the United Nations along with the OAU Charter, make the people, at least in their intentions, the principal benefici-ary of decolonization and one of the concerns of states, thus marking, at the international level, a break with the conventional idea linked to a more individuai view of the world and bringing about a shift as it were in the centre of gravity of international law [...]