<p>Lilian Chenwi and Takele Soboka Bulto's edited collection, <italic>Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations from an African Perspective</italic> (Intersentia, 2018) provides a creative, far-reaching and invigorating account of the potential of extraterritorial human rights protection grounded in contemporary and prescient examples of extraterritorial violations of rights in the African context. The book provides arguably the most comprehensive account of extraterritoriality in the African context to date, building upon the excellent monograph of one of its editors, <italic>The Extraterritorial Application of the Human Right to Water in Africa</italic> (Cambridge University Press, 2014). The book is ambitious in its scope, ranging from issues relating to CIA extraordinary rendition, atrocities committed by the Lord's Resistance Army, overseas development aid and displacement due to climate change. Non-African states are held to account for failing to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights in Africa. The powerlessness, or complicity, of African states in these instances is exposed, and an explanation is provided of their obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.</p>
<p>As a result of the fact that the book considers extraterritorial human rights obligations ‘from an African perspective’ and not just the obligations of African states, the extraterritorial effects of a range of international law sources are analysed. The book addresses the potential extraterritorial application of Maastricht Extraterritorial Obligations Principles, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the <a href="https://international.vlex.com/vid/convention-on-the-rights-863215515">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> and the <a href="https://international.vlex.com/vid/convention-relative-aux-droits-851186284">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a>, as well as regional human rights systems and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and <a href="https://international.vlex.com/vid/international-covenant-on-economic-851189688">International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights</a> (<a href="https://international.vlex.com/vid/international-covenant-on-economic-851189688">ICESCR</a>).</p>
<p>The unique construction and background of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) is always at the forefront of analysis and serves as a justification for a presumption of extraterritoriality. The editors in the introductory chapter note that the African perspective of human rights is based on the concept of collectivity<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn1"><sup>1</sup></xref> and extraterritorial human rights obligations are instrumental in operationalising cooperation.<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn2"><sup>2</sup></xref> Further, the African Charter does not contain a jurisdiction clause like many other human rights treaties and therefore reads as though there is no territorial delimitation of...</p>
