This paper focuses on the evolution of human rights within the African Union(AU), starting from the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in1963.

The paper therefore takes as its basic premise the following:

• Since its establishment, the OAU has been preoccupied with human rights, as evidenced by the struggle for the decolonisation of Africa and the right to self-determination and independence. Embodied within this, no doubt, is the fact that those agitating and fighting for independence used human rights standards to justify their struggle, as colonialism had no regard for the human rights of colonised people.