BUSINESS AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY In DRC, children and adults risked their lives and health working in cobalt mines for a dollar a day. In South Africa, Lonmin Plc, a UK-based platinum mining giant, allowed its workforce to live in squalor in Marikana, in spite of making legally binding commitments to build 5,500 new houses over 10 years before. No one was held to account for the killing in 2012 of 34 people protesting against poor conditions at the mine. At the same time, there were growing signs of public pressure, action and demands for corporate accountability in various countries. In June, a landmark civil case was launched against Shell in the Netherlands – accusing it of complicity in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of the Ogoni nine, hanged by Nigeria’s military government in 1995. International organizations called for Shell to be investigated for its part in these serious human rights violations committed by the Nigerian security forces in Ogoniland in the 1990s. Some governments took positive steps. The DRC government committed to end child labour in the mining sector by 2025, in what could be a significant step towards eradicating the use of children as young as seven in dangerous mining work. Ghana ratified the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury, which aims to protect workers from toxic liquid metal by reducing mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining and to protect children from exposure. LOOKING AHEAD While 2017 saw protracted and, in some cases, deepening challenges to the state of human rights in Africa, it also offered hope and opportunities for change. A key source of hope lay in the countless people across the region who stood up for human rights, justice and dignity – often risking their lives and freedoms. Africa’s regional bodies remained key to the realization of positive change; they too are presented with many opportunities. During the year, the AU endorsed an ambitious plan to realize its commitment to “silence the guns” by 2020. It embarked on a major institutional reform agenda, which includes mobilizing significant resources for its operations and for peace and security interventions. This holistic approach and the AU’s ambition to address the root causes of conflict offer real opportunities to mobilize an effective regional response for better protection of civilians, respect for human rights and tackling the entrenched culture of impunity. The year also marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which – despite many challenges – made significant contributions towards the promotion and protection of human rights, including by formulating an impressive list of instruments and standards. In 2017 alone, the Commission adopted at least 13 such instruments; these gave specific content to the broad provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The Commission should build on these successes and work towards refining and strengthening its processes and mechanisms; it needs to develop a single set of consolidated state reporting guidelines and to apply consistently the Commission’s procedure for following up the implementation of its decisions and recommendations to states. 26 Amnesty International Report 2017/18