What if the history of human rights was older, more African, and more universal than we have long been taught?

Several principles that we now consider to be fundamental to universal human rights were already present in African legal and political traditions several centuries before the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Charter of Manden, traditionally dated to 1236, is one of the most remarkable examples.

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in Paris, a foundational text of contemporary international law. It proclaims, in particular, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, that they have the right to life, liberty and security, and that slavery is prohibited.

More than seven centuries earlier, in the heart of West Africa, another legal and political tradition was already formulating principles that resonate remarkably with those that the world would later enshrine under the name of "human rights".

This is the Charter of Manden , traditionally associated with Sundiata Keita and the founding of the Mali Empire at the beginning of the 13th century.

UNESCO describes it as one of the oldest constitutions in the world, although it was mainly transmitted orally. It sets out principles relating to the inviolability of the human person, social peace in diversity, education, food security, freedom of expression and enterprise, and the abolition of the capture of slaves.

And here is the figure that should concern us: 1236 → 1948: 712 years.

Seven centuries separate the date traditionally accepted for the proclamation of the Charter of Manden from the adoption of the UDHR.

Two texts. Two eras. One same question: how to protect human beings?

The UDHR states: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

The Charter of Manden , in the tradition that has come down to us, affirms principles concerning human life, freedom, solidarity, social peace, and protection against slavery. The Belgian Foreign Ministry itself recognizes the Charter of Manden today as one of the earliest historical references to human rights.

This parallel obviously does not mean that the Manden Charter was the "first UDHR" in the modern sense. That would be an anachronism.

The Mandinka conception of rights and duties was deeply communal, rooted in a society of clans, collective responsibilities, and oral tradition. The UDHR, on the other hand, formulates universal rights attached to each individual and intended to be recognized by all states.

But this difference in no way diminishes the historical significance of the parallel. On the contrary, it forces us to ask ourselves a fundamental question:

Why is the universal history of human rights so often told as an essentially European story?

Africa did not wait for colonization to produce standards .

Before European colonization, Africa was not a space without law, without institutions or without political philosophy.

African kingdoms and empires had their own systems of governance, customary norms, conflict resolution mechanisms, social obligations, and conceptions of human dignity.

The Charter of Manden is a particularly strong illustration of this.

It reminds us that the idea that human beings possess a value that must be protected did not originate exclusively in the European philosophical salons of the 17th and 18th centuries, nor exclusively in the international institutions of the 20th century.

It also existed previously in African societies. And sometimes in a remarkably structured form.

Slavery: a particularly important issue

The subject becomes even more sensitive when discussing slavery.

Article 4 of the UDHR states that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude and prohibits slavery and trafficking in all their forms.

The Charter of Manden also contains provisions relating to the abolition of the capture of slaves and the limitation of slave-owning practices.

It is obviously important to avoid turning this comparison into a simplistic narrative: the historical realities of slavery in Africa were complex, and African societies were neither uniform nor free from slave-owning practices.

But precisely: recognizing this complexity does not require erasing African traditions that have sought to limit or combat these practices.

Africa is not asking for history to be rewritten. It is asking that history be stopped being written in a truncated way.

Perhaps that's the real issue.

Recognizing the Manden Charter does not mean taking anything away from the UDHR.

If human rights are truly universal, then human history must also be universal.

There cannot be a history of human rights told from Europe, and then an "African" history relegated to a footnote.

Both stories need to be told. Because before the UN proclaimed in 1948 that human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, African societies had already developed their own answers to fundamental questions:

● How to protect life?

● How to preserve freedom?

● How to organize the coexistence of different populations?

● How to fight slavery?

● How to guarantee social peace?

● How to transmit knowledge?

● How to organize everyone's duties towards the community?

When we celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, let us celebrate it.

But let's tell the whole story.

Because the universality of human rights does not mean that certain civilizations were the owners of them and that others simply learned to adopt them.

Universality means precisely that all of humanity has contributed to building this idea.

And in this global history, Africa is not only a late beneficiary of human rights. It is also one of the earliest lands of political and legal formulation.

The history of human rights in Africa does not begin with colonization.

It was already underway long before.

The strong message is not to claim that the 1948 UDHR was a copy of the Manden Charter, but to recall an often forgotten reality: long before colonization, African societies had developed their own standards of human dignity, freedom, solidarity and justice.

Something to think about...